When galaxies collide, several events can happen, including:
1. Distortion of Galaxies: The gravitational forces involved in a galaxy collision can distort the shapes of the interacting galaxies. Spiral arms may be stretched or pulled out, creating tidal tails and bridges between the galaxies.
2. Star Formation: The interaction between galaxies can trigger the formation of new stars. The gas and dust clouds within the galaxies can become compressed and collapse under gravity, giving birth to new stellar nurseries.
3. Galactic Mergers: In some cases, the interacting galaxies can merge and form a single, larger galaxy. This process can lead to the redistribution of stars, gas, and dust, altering the structure and composition of the resulting galaxy.
4. Supermassive Black Hole Interactions: If the galaxies involved have supermassive black holes at their centers, their gravitational forces can cause the black holes to merge. This can result in the formation of an even more massive black hole.
Regarding the second question, the Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31) is currently on a collision course with the Milky Way. In several billion years, these two galaxies will collide and eventually merge to form a new galaxy referred to as "Milkomeda" or "Milky Andromeda".
which of these events can happen when galaxies collide ?
which galaxy will collide with the milky way in several billion ways ?
1 answer